Expedition Happiness (2017) - full transcript

Two free spirits, one dog. Traveling the vast spaces of an enormous continent in search of something more.

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Felix is from a wine region

in South Germany.

People there work really hard

for their money,

and some even start building

their own house

at a very young age.

But he noticed early on

that he doesn't really fit in.

He dropped out of school,

later even quit his job with Mercedes,

sold everything, and went on a road trip

through 22 countries with his bicycle.

He had his camera with him,

and came back with his documentary,

Pedal The World.

Mogli was raised by an alternative family

with only college graduates.

She sang opera as a child,

made it to honor roll during high school,

but still, she isn't really interested

in a college degree or a crazy career.

She loves to travel, and turns

all her experiences and influences

during her trips into new songs.

Leave my body

Go run, go run and say you love me

Actually, we come

from two totally different worlds,

but I think the repulsion

of the traditional way is what unites us.

We became a couple during my bicycle trip

and moved to Berlin together afterwards.

We had everything you could wish for.

Um, we had a loft, we had us,

we had friends, even a puppy,

but still, we weren't happy.

Usually, everyone loves

the creative Berlin,

but for us it felt loud and dirty,

and we kind of had cabin fever.

We knew we wanted to leave again,

so we gave notice to quit our flat

without even knowing what we want to do,

or where we want to go.

We knew we wanted to travel again,

make a new movie,

and get inspiration for a new album,

so that there would be

a cool soundtrack again.

We were never really passionate

about cycling,

so we needed a new mean of transportation.

An RV was too boring,

we didn't wanna cycle again,

and walking was way too slow.

By coincidence, we saw

an old American school bus online

and decided to convert it

to a loft on wheels.

We built our first room.

Well, the bedroom is kind of a room, too,

but we don't have a door

to walk into, so, uh,

now we built a toilet.

And it's teeny-tiny,

but you don't really need much space

to go to the toilet, so we don't care.

We're here on a three-month visa,

and, unfortunately, it's running out,

so we have to be at the Canadian border

in two days already.

We didn't really make plans,

so that was probably a bit naive,

but our motto is, "Less planning

means more flexibility."

That's why we don't have a root as well.

We wanna get up in the morning

and decide where we want to go

and what we want to see that day.

Let's see how it goes

the first couple of feet here.

Let's see if the engine starts, and then,

uh, off to Canada, I guess, right?

Let's check.

Oh, and the dog...

Rudi, come.

We weren't allowed to film

the border crossing,

but everything went well,

and only took, like, five minutes.

Flying with a drone over Niagara Falls

is illegal, too,

but we did it anyway,

and it was definitely worth it.

So, today is a big day.

First time using power,

sure power, on the bus.

So, Seli and me

did 90% of the electric by ourselves.

So, I don't know if it works,

but let's see. That plug goes in here...

Boom, and the other one goes in the bus.

Oh...

- Should I try?

- Yeah.

Ooh! Power works.

So, our first night in the bus

was, uh, pretty decent.

It rained in everywhere. We are leaking

in the bus and the ceiling, everywhere.

I gotta go up to the roof today

and fix the cracks

and the leaks and the holes.

I don't know, silicone it up,

or spray it up,

or, I don't know, fix it somehow.

We got a second problem.

The water heater is leaking.

So we don't have any water in the bus.

I don't know how to fix it,

I'm not a plumber.

But, uh, I'm gonna look into it now.

Two more problems to fix.

After the 12 weeks converting the bus,

we got used to setbacks.

We try not to take it too serious,

repair all the loose ends,

and are pretty stoked

to finally start traveling.

What I love most about our school bus

is that we are pretty much

self-sufficient and live off the grid.

We don't need any camp grounds whatsoever

because of our solar system,

which generates more than enough power

to charge all of our devices.

We also got a composting toilet

and more than 40 gallons of fresh water.

So, basically, everything you need

for a night in the wild.

We're on the Trans-Canada

since a little while...

It's really awesome because

there's so much nature around you,

and we really like it.

But it's kind of boring, too,

to always go straight,

so sometimes we go to the dirt roads,

like, every hour or so,

and check them out.

And it's always a little exciting because

we never know if we can get out again.

And it's exciting, too,

because we never know what awaits us,

and there's always a little something

that we can discover.

Hey!

He just bit my ass! Ow!

Rudi, come.

Today we met

Robbie and Margaret,

an older couple

at the end of a little dirt road.

They showed us a typical

Canadian tradition called ice fishing.

In winter, when the lake is frozen,

they pull a little house on the lake

with a truck

and dig a hole through the ice to fish.

It's all insulated and with that stove...

Forty below and you can leave

the windows open. It's so warm in here.

This, uh...

You can stay in your bed,

and this lifts up and then you

put a hole in it,

and you can fish from inside.

You can just, like,

stay in bed and fish...

Oh, you can, yes. Yes, you can.

Are these to drill holes through the ice?

Oh, yeah,

these are IceHoggers, yeah. Yeah.

The whole truck went...

The whole truck,

yeah, you can see...

It's just starting to come out here.

This was all the pictures and...

And you saved the guy?

Well, the guy got out okay,

thank goodness, you know?

This is fresh... Well, it's not fresh.

It was fresh.

It's pickerel and pike that we caught

in Lac des Mille Lacs.

You just fry it in a little bit of butter

and garlic, and it's lovely.

- Awesome!

- And I hope you enjoy it.

Yeah! If you like fish, it's awesome.

- Thank you.

- We'd take you... Good.

- Well I hope you enjoy it. You're welcome!

- Thank you. That's so nice of you.

On our way to Banff,

we can't really believe

that they're supposed to be

the Alps of Canada.

Crossing Manitoba

and Saskatchewan is rather boring

because it's all flat and mostly covered

in some kind of fields.

But I'm pretty confident

we will get rewarded

once we get to the Rocky Mountains.

Hey!

- How many people on board?

- Uh, two, and one dog,

- if that matters.

- Okay, perfect.

- How long will you be in the park for?

- Um, can we buy that one seasonal pass

that, uh... What is it called,

Seli, do you know?

- Discovery Pass?

- Discovery Pass.

- Yeah, so that's $136.40.

- Perfect!

We absolutely love Banff,

so we decide to stay for a while

instead of just driving through.

We really enjoy the break from traveling

and go on day trips by foot with Rudi,

or with the bus

to explore the national park.

After a long day, we love to come back

and enjoy our cozy home.

It's breath-taking nature.

I never saw something like that before.

Awesome.

It's 5 o'clock in the morning,

and we hope that if we get up this early,

we're gonna escape all the tourists.

And, more importantly, see some bears,

because we've had no luck so far.

Bears, let's go! Bears.

Getting some rest in Banff

was more than needed

and also the highlight

of this trip so far,

but it's time to head towards Alaska.

On the map, it looks like Alaska

is right next door to Banff,

but in reality,

it's almost 4,000 miles detour

which we are more than willing

to approach

for a childhood dream like Alaska.

We are kind of

looking for happiness, right?

It's called Expedition Happiness,

and, uh, when you wake up in the morning

and open the door,

and stand across this here,

this mountain, these trees

and this river,

that kinda is happiness, I guess.

We don't have a routine, our routine

is waking up when the sun goes up,

and going to sleep when the sun goes down.

No appointments.

Just living the life, living the moment.

This is happiness for sure.

Seeing and experiencing new things

every single day

is what we love so much about traveling.

But we realize more and more,

it's traveling together as a family

that makes us really happy.

During Pedal the World, my first trip,

I cycled pretty much alone.

But happiness is the only thing

that doubles if it's shared.

As much as we love traveling,

the driving part is more exhausting

than we ever thought.

The highways are full with road holes...

I don't think I ever drove on roads

this bad.

There is stuff breaking in and on the bus,

but the little rewards and adventures

we experience every single day

pretty much make up for it.

Um, we are on the Alaskan Highway

in British Columbia,

uh, close to Yukon

and close to the border to Alaska.

I'm standing in the middle of the road

and there's no car for hours!

Pure nature, no civilization, no tourists,

just bears, moose, and you.

Stop the bus!

Woo-hoo!

The kitchen in our bus

is actually way bigger

than the one we had in Berlin.

It's stocked with everything I need

to cook delicious meals on the road

and it's quite luxurious to have

a kitchen with you wherever you go.

It gives me a really good feeling, too,

because it makes me feel at home.

So, we are five miles away from the border

to Alaska, we can almost see it.

But there's one problem.

Uh, we were in the States

converting the bus for 90 days.

On the 90th day, we left the States

because we had our ESTA visa.

Um, we left on the 90th day,

and thought, "We will just come back

to Alaska and get another 90 days."

That works,

but Canada doesn't count

as a country leaving the US.

We don't really know what to do,

we thought we'd just try it.

So, let's hope we meet someone

really nice at the border,

and they just, like, say, "Come on in."

Yeah, she thinks we'll get in.

I'm pretty sure we won't.

We made it! We're in Alaska.

Um, luckily, I was right.

The guys were really nice at the border.

They asked us, like, a million questions,

but that's normal.

And, yeah, they gave us eight weeks.

Uh, so that's plenty of time

to go through Alaska

and see all the nice nature

and everything.

The boys are pretty knocked out.

They're both sleeping.

It was a hard day. We'll get some rest,

and then tomorrow we can go to Fairbanks!

Our fuel tank is about 40 gallons,

and even if we only get

about eight or nine miles per gallon,

which is really not that great,

we can still make it to almost 350 miles

with a full tank of diesel.

There's two reasons to celebrate today.

Reason one,

yesterday, we passed

our ten thousandth kilometer

from start to here.

So, 10,000 K driving so far,

that's a reason to celebrate.

And the second one is

we are in Fairbanks now.

Yesterday, we got to the Walmart here.

You can sleep here for free,

one or two nights.

And, uh, this is...

Fairbanks is the start of our trip, kinda.

From Fairbanks, we will always go south.

So, that's two reasons to celebrate.

How do you celebrate better

than with a dance?

I would say, check us out!

So, my two-step is pretty smooth.

Seli, uh...

I would say B-minus.

And Rudi, Rudi got that swag.

You can't learn that.

So, off to the next 10,000 K.

So, we made it

to the Denali Nation Park yesterday.

The drive was epic.

It was, uh, one of the nicest rides

I had in my life.

We stay on the Teklanika camp ground,

which is, uh, on mile 30

of the road in the park.

And usually they stop you

at mile 17, I think.

But if you book that campground,

you can go until mile 30.

But you have to stay here three nights.

So, we got lucky.

Usually it's all booked out.

And five days ago, we found out,

"Okay there's an opening,

we should take it." So, we took it.

And the ride, it was all gravel

and bumpy roads,

but mountains to the left,

rivers to the right.

It was, uh...

The best ride in my life.

The campground

doesn't have water or power,

so we had to fill up our fresh water tank

and dump the used water before.

For days where it's so cloudy

that our solar panels

don't get enough sun,

we have a generator, and our stove

and water heater run on propane.

The special thing about this park is that

you don't have to be on trails

all the time.

They encourage you to go

wherever you want to go,

and I'm on a little hill right now.

There's mountains all around me,

it's so beautiful.

And I feel like the queen of the world.

Alaska!

We can check a new thing

off our bucket list.

Waking up in front of

the highest mountain in North America

and drinking our coffee

on top of our bus, looking at it.

It's hiding a little bit

behind the clouds, but, um,

sometimes we can see it,

like, every 20 minutes.

And it's really beautiful.

On the Kenai Peninsula,

we meet Eric and Kaylee

who live here, and show us

their beloved Alaska, off the beaten path.

It's nice to meet locals

because we get to know the country

on a whole new level through them.

Here.

Boondocking in Alaska is the easiest ever.

Uh, the nature's so endless here,

there's roads

leading to nothing everywhere.

And then you find

a spot like here, incredible.

Mountain view, the creek,

and there's this park in the woods, kinda.

Alaska is perfect for that.

Perfect boondocking county...

Country. State.

Um, it's fun. It's really, really fun.

We're driving to Vancouver next,

and are happy to finally be

in a big city again.

Rudi has been limping for quite some time,

so we really wanna go see a vet

and get him checked,

'cause we're scared he has joint problems.

Unfortunately, we were right.

But before he has to have surgery

on both elbows,

we visit a dog beach

so he can run around one last time.

Rudi has been crying all night.

He literally didn't even sleep for, like,

five minutes or so.

I'm pretty scared that he's in pain.

I mean, like, they cut the bone

and put metal in,

but the doctor said it's normal,

that he's just hallucinating

from the sedatives,

but I just hope it's over soon

and he feels better.

We didn't get a single minute of sleep,

all three of us.

Um, and today

we have to leave him alone, actually,

to go to the embassy to get our US visa,

but I think he'll be fine, because

I don't think it will take too long

'cause we have an appointment.

It's okay.

We have just been

to the US Embassy here in Vancouver.

We applied for tourist visa.

And, uh, we've been to the embassy

for, like, five hours.

It was, uh, craziness.

And finally, we could speak to somebody,

and then we said, "Look, we wanna go

from Alaska to Argentina

in an RV, and we just wanna go through

the US and stay for 20 days,

and then we'll go to Mexico..."

And he thought

we want to stay in the US forever,

I don't know why,

because I work online, I guess,

because my company's in Germany

and I'm not there.

So, he declined the visa.

We paid 400 US dollars

just to get declined.

This is... It's...

It's the end.

We can't fly to Mexico,

leave the bus here.

What are we supposed to do? We got

the dog. We can't fly to Germany.

We can't... Traveling is usually fun,

but right now...

We have to wait about three weeks

to get another appointment

at the US Embassy,

and it's really frustrating not to know

if this trip is going to end or not.

That's why my brother, Marco,

and his girlfriend, Sophia,

come over from Germany

and they try to cheer us up a little.

But again, there is something good

about this forced break,

because Rudi really needs some time

to heal without the daily life

on the road.

And it really worked on the second try.

We were lucky and got

a super nice lady at the Embassy

who believed us and our story.

Of course we don't wanna live in the US.

We only wanna travel through

and are really happy that

this trip is not going to end

because of one grumpy old man.

I don't even know how to start right now.

I'm so angry and sad, like...

We finally got our visa the second time

around when we went to the Embassy,

and then we went to the border today

and it didn't even occur to us

that we could face any problems.

We thought we could just pass through.

But we were very wrong, like...

We came there and they put Rudi

in a kennel in the bright sun.

It's like 30 degrees out there

and he's just had surgery.

And they didn't even give him any water.

So, we immediately decided to turn around.

We thought we can come back another time,

maybe early in the morning

when it's not so hot.

But once you apply to get in,

you have to go through with it.

So I begged them. I said, like,

he just had surgery.

It's not gonna do any good.

And they just didn't give in.

They didn't want to.

So we had to go in there

and they questioned us again

for illegal immigration.

Like, seriously, America,

I don't want to stay in your country.

Like, I don't know what part of that

you don't understand.

We're... It's all over the internet.

Like, you can look us up.

It says we wanna go

from Alaska all the way south.

So, how are we staying in your country?

But, well, they asked us again

after the Embassy,

and finally they let us in

after a couple of hours.

Which was really hard.

And, like, a few incidents happened where

one officer threatened Felix

to put him in a cell

because he got up to use the bathroom.

Like, seriously, what's up?

Why do you do that?

They made us feel so...

Helpless. Like, you're treated

like a prisoner.

It's not fair and...

At the moment, I don't even wanna be here.

It's like the last place I wanna be.

So, I don't know what to do.

Rudi is seriously ill now.

I think he has a heatstroke.

He's vomiting every 10 minutes.

He has diarrhea.

He's really not doing well.

And, so...

We should be celebrating right now

because we actually got

into the United States,

but we're not very happy at the moment.

Back on the road,

we decided to skip Portland and Seattle

even though they're super cool cities.

You can't do everything

in one trip, anyway,

and it's important to do

what feels good for you.

After the long time in Vancouver,

we had enough of big city life

and wanna be by ourselves

and in nature for a while.

So we head for

the Pacific highway instead.

When so many things go wrong,

you kinda start to question

why you're traveling in the first place,

because we weren't happy anymore at all.

It's part of traveling though, I guess.

And we learn that maybe happiness is

to get over something like that.

Not to lose your optimism,

and pick yourself up again.

That really helped us to

appreciate the smaller things

and get back into a routine again.

We are exploring

the Redwood National Park right now.

And after staying way

too long in Vancouver,

it's nice to have nature again.

Those trees are massive.

I never saw something like that before.

Rudi, come.

What you don't really think about

before you start a trip like this

is this crazy long bus with about 40 feet.

You can barely move around in big cities.

One wrong turn and you are

in the middle of chaos.

You don't really know how to get out,

and finding a parking spot

or even a place to sleep

is almost impossible.

That's why we usually just

drive through the big cities

and focus on the nature spots.

West coast of America is really nice.

Really easy.

Uh, just always on

the Highway One heading south.

The sights are really nice.

It's, uh, the reward

for all the bad parts.

It's really like a roller coaster,

this trip right now.

It's up and down, it's up and down.

But that's kinda what traveling is, right?

So, uh, I hope it stays like that.

I don't want any bad experiences anymore.

I want this.

Yeah! Awesome!

Yeah! Awesome!

Shortly after Los Angeles,

we decide to head east,

so basically moving inland.

After leaving LA, the nature

starts to change drastically.

Suddenly, you are in

the middle of the desert

and you know this has got to be the right

way to Death Valley and Grand Canyon.

- Rudi, it's okay!

- He's trembling...

Rudi...

It's okay, everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine.

It's okay.

It's okay. Yes, I know.

I know, darling.

It's okay.

Ever since we went inland from LA,

it's getting hotter every day

and Rudi isn't taking it well at all.

He overheated yesterday and broke down.

He just ran to the bus and just his...

His legs just collapsed

and we had to carry him inside,

so now I'm trying to

cool him down constantly.

So even when we're driving,

I'm, like, right next to him

and I'm putting water on him

every five minutes.

And I even have a cool pack

to cool him down.

And... I knew it would be hard

with a mountain dog in the south,

but I didn't think he would break down

the first day it gets hot,

so we really have to think of something,

'cause I know it's gonna be hotter, even,

if we go to Mexico or Peru, Costa Rica...

I don't know if he can make it, actually.

Maybe we have to send him home.

But without Rudi...

There is no Expedition Happiness,

actually. I don't wanna go on without him.

So, let's hope we figure something out,

'cause I don't want this to end now.

Without a warning,

the next setback hits us.

Our road trip's on the line,

and more importantly, Rudi's health.

But we learn to concentrate on solutions

rather than getting frustrated

about the problem.

And in this case, it simply means

to walk Rudi in the morning

and at night when it's not

as hot anymore.

Luckily, he gets used to it very quickly

and doesn't mind the heat

as much anymore after a few days.

Rudi, where's the coyote?

Where's the coyote?

In moments like these, I'm so

grateful that we have each other,

'cause I honestly don't know

how I'd cope on my own.

But in the good moments, too, everything

is more fun if you get to share it.

And I think we can consider

ourselves lucky

that we're together 24/7

in such a small space

and haven't killed each other yet.

We just enjoy our time together.

So, today we are at the most...

Magical place we ever slept in our lives.

We, uh, went right on the street

and for, like, two miles

we needed an hour,

because it was like...

It was really shady.

But now we're here.

The sun just went down.

The heat's gone. The dog's having fun.

It is amazing.

Such a magical place.

We are driving towards Death Valley.

To get into Death Valley, you have

to cross the mountains, of course.

And we have a new negative speed record.

Uh, which is, uh...

50 miles an hour. 15 miles an hour.

Um, well, we got to deal with it.

The engine is getting really hot.

So let's see. I hope it's not too long,

but we'll make it.

We, uh, celebrated a little too early.

We're going down hills for,

like, two miles,

and suddenly we were, like, smelling fire.

And I stopped... I couldn't stop.

I barely stopped.

The brakes didn't work anymore.

And I got outside and the brakes

were steaming hot. Like, melting.

So we are at the side of the road.

We'll wait for, like, 10 minutes.

A policeman already stopped behind us

to kinda guard us out here.

Death Valley for sure.

After waiting about 20 minutes,

the brakes finally cooled down

and we were able to continue driving.

Downshifting usually works pretty good,

but even without braking,

everything on the bus is

getting really hot in Death Valley.

I've never seen anything like this before.

The earth is just ripped open.

It's sick. It's like a magical place.

We're on the road since

seven months now,

and only traveled through

two countries so far.

It's kind of crazy.

In Europe, we probably would have been

in every country by now.

And while the nature changed drastically

from glaciers to desert,

the people and the cultures

they're more or less the same.

So, we can't wait for

new influences in Mexico.

It's raining for the first time in ages.

It was just really hot for weeks.

Actually, it's still hot,

but it's raining.

And at first we didn't know if it's

a good sign or a bad sign

for Mexico and the weather.

But then a really beautiful

rainbow showed up.

So we're taking it as a good sign now.

We're at the border to Mexico

at the moment,

so I'm actually in between two countries.

It was really nice so far.

They were really nice people.

They were really calm

and really sweet to us,

and they looked at the bus

and everything was fine,

so we're really happy.

And now Felix is off

to get our permission,

and he's been gone for, like,

half an hour now,

so I'm starting to worry.

At first I was like, okay,

let's just have breakfast.

I made myself some breakfast, actually.

Um, and he's gonna be back soon,

but now...

He's not coming back

and I'm getting nervous,

'cause either he's in line

and then everything is fine

or they have been talking

to him for, like, half an hour.

And I just really... I can't handle

any more border problems.

I just wanna be in Mexico

and have fun again.

So?

- We have everything.

- Everything?

I think so!

But I think we got screwed over.

Did you have to pay something?

Yeah, she said it's "Pesos"

all the time...

...but the document says it's Dollars.

$1,129.

No, that's not possible.

I don't think we paid that much.

Mexico. Mexico.

Of course,

they didn't screw us over.

The currency sign is just the same

as the one in the US.

So I thought it's dollars.

So, we just made the first

80, 90 miles in this country.

The people are nice. The food is good.

The only problem is the roads.

The worst roads you can imagine.

Worse than everything

I ever experienced.

Everything in the bus is breaking.

So, I don't know how much

longer we can go, but, uh...

This bus is definitely not made for

Central and South America.

Uh, let's see how it goes, uh,

we're pretty stoked to be here, so...

We don't care about the bus. We're happy.

We're back in no man's land again,

and I'm sure we're

the only tourists around.

But it's kind of nice, 'cause

the bus draws a lot of attention

so locals come

and talk to us all the time.

On the first evening, we get invited

for dinner by two young girls

and are super impressed

by their hospitality,

'cause it's our first day in Mexico

and already we're getting

our first bottle of tequila.

- Nuevo Casas Grandes.

- Nuevo Casas Grandes.

- Neuvo?

- Uh-huh. Casa Grandes is like a...

- How do you say it?

- Nuevo Casas Grandes.

Nuevo Casas Grandes.

Welcome to Mexico.

Without pot. Without pot.

Just with tequila.

You have no weed.

No weed.

They don't have time

the next morning,

but want us to see their hometown.

So they send a school friend who shows us

the chili factory of his dad.

They break really easily.

- They break? Oh, okay.

- Yeah.

Well, my hair is very soft, so...

- You'll have to put...

- Put it all in.

- Oh, oh, all of it?

- All of it.

Oh.

Okay.

- Where did you guys start?

- Uh, Niagara Falls.

No, North Carolina.

- North Carolina.

- Oh, okay.

Canada. Alaska.

After visiting

the chili factory of his dad,

Riley wants to show us

one more highlight of the area.

We are driving about five miles to get

to a farm a friend of his dad owns.

On our way, we passed chili

and potato fields.

Supposedly, about 90% of all potato chips

in Mexico are being produced here.

Is it that bad?

Just put it on your tongue.

Don't bite it.

- It's pretty hot.

- Pretty hot.

Is that a chili or jalapeno?

- That's jalapeno.

- Jalapeno?

- Chili and jalapeno.

- Ah, okay.

- Chili and jalapeno.

- Jalapeno.

It's pretty hot.

But it's okay. I'm not, you know...

I'm still alive.

Once we get to the farm

we are kinda freaked out.

There is several mansions

we aren't really allowed to film.

There is a Boeing used as a private jet.

And then there's these tigers

in really small cages.

Feels really weird being here,

but we don't want to be rude

and question the circumstances

or even the hospitality.

Second day in Mexico.

Our taco number 412, I think.

And we're pretty full.

And now it's time for Rudi's first taco.

Rudi, taco.

You don't want the bread? Okay.

So, two days ago we saw the tigers

and this dude with a lot of land and...

He had employees,

like thousands and stuff.

And we were like, "Okay,

this is not normal to have tigers."

And now somebody told us

that dude is famous.

He is the number one narco...

Narcos? Narco?

Drug dealer.

Uh, Pablo Escobar of Mexico, whatever.

And he's huge here.

Everybody knows him.

He gives people jobs and everything,

but still, he makes his money with drugs.

So, yeah, it's not normal to have tigers,

and he was like,

"Oh, don't film everything."

So, now we know why. We're kinda shocked

and you never know

who you meet in Mexico.

I don't know what to say.

Good times.

In Jimenez we got lucky again,

finding a good sleeping spot

for the night.

A really friendly hotel manager

invited us

to park the bus in his huge parking lot

and even offered us a room.

But we are fine with staying in the bus.

After inviting us to eat in the hotel,

he gave us a little tour

through his beloved city.

Oh.

Oh.

- Hey! Hey, how are you?

- Very well, and you?

- When do we go to Germany?

- Yes. One day we will go.

- Si.

- Si.

I'll send this guy. Son, come!

Say hi to these guys.

When locals give you a tour,

you get to places where there was

probably no tourist before you.

That's how we get a totally unfiltered

view of how the life there really is.

We don't question how they

keep their animals here in Mexico.

Kinda like the tigers before,

but once you get to another country,

there's other rules than in

Germany or in the US.

We need to respect these circumstances

and be thankful for the hospitality here.

Whoa.

There is 20 soldiers

and two tanks outside the bus.

We've just been to a little tour

around the city Jimenez,

and we came back,

the dog was in here,

and those tanks are next door.

I'm scared as hell.

They don't talk to us.

They all got 20 guns in their hands.

Like, this is war.

I don't know if they're

good guys or bad guys

or if they wanna help and protect us

or take us as, like, a hostage, uh...

I am scared. I mean, I'm shaking bad.

This is war.

I don't know what's happening.

They don't talk to us.

Uh, second day in Mexico in Jimenez

and, uh, this happens.

But, uh, I'm still positive, I guess.

We, uh, moved the bus last night.

The army didn't leave for two hours.

We didn't know what's going on.

So, after an hour...

No, after, like,

two hours we took the dog,

went outside for a walk.

And once we came back, I'm still nervous,

once we came back, they ran.

They ran off, took the trucks and left.

So I was like, what is going on?

Is this, like, a scam?

Did they put, like,

a ton of cocaine underneath my bus?

And the next day they're gonna

stop me and say

I'm the drug dealer, whatever?

So I checked everything, nothing.

So we don't know what it was.

Maybe they were just nice

and wanted to protect us,

but they didn't really speak to us.

It was weird.

So...

They're gone now.

We moved the bus last night

because we said, "Look,

let's get out of here."

First the Narco, the drug dealer,

now the army.

What's coming next, Mexico?

I, uh, took a lot

of free kicks in my life.

None of 'em in Mexico yet.

None of 'em this important.

Good goalkeeper, good field.

I'm positive.

- Oh!

- Ooh!

No.

Whoo-hoo!

Whose ball?

Oh!

Yeah!

Now a little physiotherapy

for this guy.

Good job!

Good job. You did well today.

So we are in San Luis Potosi now.

It's so hard to explore

a city with the bus.

You never find parking,

and we just found this spot.

It's in front of the Hilton Hotel,

I think.

This is the Hilton.

Dear management, I'm sorry.

I know we're not allowed to park here,

but we'll be back in one or two hours.

We just want to explore

the city real quick.

And I hope you don't tow us away.

Please don't.

Um, we like your country,

we like your hotels,

so be nice to us.

Didn't get towed, quite the opposite.

We got a little message,

uh, under our door.

That's always really nice.

From someone who recognized us

over Facebook

and just said something nice.

Mexico's full of surprises.

In the middle of the road,

Miguel stopped our bus

and asked us a million questions,

like where we are from,

what we do,

where we go, and whatsoever.

He was really interested in our story,

and without further ado,

he invited us in his house

here in San Miguel de Allende.

We got to know his family,

and everything felt really special for us.

Kind of like home, I guess.

We get along really great,

and after a little walk with Rudi,

we decide to head towards the city

to get some dinner together.

Take leaf off. You're gonna pinch.

And you have to wait

until it's clean?

- No, now you can eat it.

- Oh, now you can eat that?

Let's go for a minute

inside Mama Mia restaurant.

Mama Mia?

That's Cochinita Pibil.

Cochinita Pibil.

Take a little piece.

That's the sound you have to make.

It has to be drowned in sauce.

- Yummy.

- A lot of lime.

Well done.

I was thinking about your top knot.

I wanted to ask if you remember the name.

- Is it moving when I talk?

- Well done.

My top knot is moving.

Your top knot is moving. No.

No, it doesn't move.

How do you say in German?

This? Dutt.

- What?

- Dutt. Dutt.

- With D?

- With a D.

- Yeah.

- Dutt. Si.

For the generals who used to be working...

The city is really beautiful too,

so we decide to stay for a few days.

These short breaks from traveling

are super relaxing.

It's important not to move

every single day,

otherwise you get stressed out

pretty quickly.

Mexico is the perfect place for that,

because we make so many friends

and meet families

that make us feel at home.

Mexico in general

is such a beautiful place.

The colorful houses, the people, the food.

It definitely has become one of our

favorite countries in the world.

- 15 Tacos El Pastor please.

- 15?

Yes, 15.

With pineapple, sauce and onions

but without cilantro please.

- Eat here?

- Yes.

First tacos and later Churros!

A little bit of lime.

Mmm!

Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.

We just drove off the highway

and went to the first restaurant we saw,

and here in Mexico, you get one lunch

in a lot of restaurants,

so you can't really choose

and there's no menu,

so we just order what they have,

and we didn't really

understand what it was,

so you never know what you're gonna get,

and today was really yummy

and we really loved it, and...

Let's hope our stomachs like it, too.

Back in Germany,

we mostly eat vegetarian,

or sometimes even vegan.

When traveling, this totally changes.

We always try to get to know

the culture as it is,

and how do you get to know culture better

than through food?

That's why we usually eat

wherever the locals go,

and we never got disappointed

by that strategy.

The colored lights, when the sun

is going up, the northern lights.

Yes, but we were in Alaska in summer.

In summer, there are no northern lights,

but it is beautiful.

Yeah, I heard that they are

beautiful northern lights.

They also exist in Norway

in the north of Europe.

So, we just wanted to...

Go on a little break,

here on the gas station.

I walked around the bus

to check everything,

because the roads are so bad.

And our water tank just fell.

Everything just ripped out.

Lucky the PEX lines are still fine.

One more bump and everything's

gonna rip out from the inside.

I don't know what to do.

It's, like, 100 degrees.

I don't have any tools to fix this.

Can't be any worse.

Can't be any worse than this.

We just met a truck driver,

no word English,

our Spanish is very little.

So I guess he said, "Follow me,"

and we are doing that right now.

I hope he's taking us to a mechanic.

As a kiddo in Germany,

your mom usually teaches you

not to trust or talk to strangers.

We usually trust people wherever we go,

and never had a bad experience.

I'm pretty sure most people

wouldn't have followed

this shady-looking truck driver.

While the mechanics ponder

how to fix the water tanks,

I kinda tried to thank the guy

without really speaking

Spanish that great.

But I'm pretty sure he understood

most of my Spanglish and gestures.

After about 10 minutes

and, like, five bucks,

we are back on the road.

And for the first time since Los Angeles,

we are heading for the ocean again.

Here in Campeche,

one of the biggest

national holidays is coming up.

Eighty percent

of the Mexican people are Catholic,

and on the Dia de los Muertos,

the Day of the Dead,

they prepare beautiful tables

for the deceased loved ones

with food and drinks they liked.

Rudi, we have to go.

Come, Rudi, come!

Rudi, we have to leave.

He really doesn't wanna get on the bus.

He hates the bus.

Rudi, let's go!

Good boy.

In the beginning, Rudi loved traveling.

But by now, he hates

that we're driving every day.

He got used to the heat,

but he's missing a daily routine.

And after all this time on the road,

we start to notice

that we're kind of feeling the same.

In the beginning, we were excited

to experience new things every day.

But now it's often overwhelming.

You okay?

In Tulum,

we allow ourselves a little luxury,

and rent a hotel room

with AC for a couple of days.

And you, Rudi?

Unfortunately, the break comes too late.

Both Rudi and Felix get really ill,

and while Felix recovers after a while,

Rudi only gets worse.

It's too cold. Yeah.

Okay, right now, Rudi...

I have already earlier

a diagnosis of Giardia.

So he's in treatment right now.

He's having a hard part because

he's got gastritis.

Settle down a little bit

because all the stress of the traveling

and all these medical conditions

are being a little rough to him.

- Too much?

- Too much, a little bit too much.

And especially because

he's really picky with the food,

and he's already being treated

by other diseases.

I honestly don't know

what to do right now.

We've been to the vet again today,

well, we've been yesterday,

and I think he has a tick-related disease,

and yesterday she wasn't too worried,

'cause his temperature was high

but he didn't have a fever.

But then when we came back from the vet,

I gave him the medication

that she gave to us, and, um...

He vomited it, like, after 10 minutes.

He had food and he vomited

it all out, and, um...

So, at first, I thought

maybe it's just the heat

or food-related, or I don't know, um...

And this morning, I gave him food again,

tablets first, food.

And then he vomited it again.

It just takes, like, a minute

and then it's all out again.

All over the floor.

And...

So we immediately went to the vet again,

and this time she was really worried,

so I'm worried now, too,

because at the vet he was really shaky,

and now he has a fever.

He has 40 degree fever now.

And, um...

She said if he doesn't

get better by tomorrow,

he has to go to the hospital,

and I just can't imagine him

going to the hospital,

'cause he's so scared

when he's not with us.

I don't think he can ever

go to the bus again.

I honestly am scared that he's gonna die

if we go all the way to Panama.

Rudi, it's okay.

- We're trying to be gentle.

- Hmm.

It's obvious that

he's not going to like it,

because this,

it's going to constrict the arm.

It will make him numb,

and maybe the most thing he would like...

It's okay, Rudi.

Hmm.

Well done, baby,

you're doing a great job.

She just said to us

that we can't carry on driving.

If we carry on driving with him

in this condition, he is going to die.

He already started

hiding and looking for a place to die.

Then he stopped eating,

that's the next sign.

She took his temperature

and his fever isn't going down,

that's why he is on a drip.

He doesn't eat...

Poor Rudi is preparing to die.

We're not gonna let him, of course.

But we can't carry on driving.

Rudi's health is our priority,

so we decide to fly home.

In the beginning, we're really sad

that we have to stop the trip.

But we quickly feel

that it's the right thing for us, too.

Moving every day became too much for us,

and we forgot to ask ourselves

what makes us happy.

At the end of this long journey,

the answer is quite different

from what we expected.

We had the great freedom

to travel the world,

and now all we want is settle down.

On the upside,

Rudi got ill in a really beautiful place.

We made good friends here

and there's plenty of things to do,

so we can enjoy

the last few days of our trip.

We asked ourselves pretty quickly

what's going to happen

with our beloved bus,

and had the neat idea to raffle the bus

to one of our online followers.

Camille is coming.

- Camillia.

- Camille.

Camillia. Three weeks left, so...

Nice.

Oh!

Look at that.

Whoo!

Toot-toot!

Oh, my God. What is he doing?

I thought I would just be happy

when the bus was gone,

but now I'm sad, 'cause it's kind of hard.

It's like driving off in front of me,

and we built everything

with our own hands,

so, it's...

It's kind of sad to let go.

The most beautiful thing

about this trip

is that we found friends for life.

Without Miguel and his family,

we would have collapsed at the airport,

because they didn't want to take

Rudi on the plane.

But with their help,

everything kind of worked out,

and we can't wait till they come over

to Europe to visit us.

Do you think we can still

make the boarding? Yeah, right?

Talk to this girl, my supervisor.

It's Christmas today,

and we told no one that we're coming home.

Everyone thinks we're still traveling,

and our families have no idea

that we're gonna surprise them today.

- Hello, little one.

- He's done.

- Hello.

- No way!

Rudi, go up.

Let him go. Okay, he's coming.

- Hey, Grandma.

- Are you kidding me?

Rudi.

Rudi, come.

Don't call for him, he's coming.

Help, help!

Help, help!

Rudi, it's okay. Rudi, it's okay.

Rudi, where is Marco?

Don't break the Christmas tree!

Hello, Rudi! Hello, Rudi!

It's a little much for him.

Nice to have you here, Rudi.

- You've grown so big!

- Look how happy he is.

Rudi.